Feature Request: Reading Timer and Speed in Calibre Viewer

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Neither. It would be a website you create with calibre-server version-new-and-improved.

Works on any computer, tablet, smartphone, browser, embedded device (if powerful enough ), etc.
No installed app, program, or plugin necessary, though you will have to allow the website to use localstorage or rely on constant internet connection.

See the aforementioned OverDrive Read, or Kindle Cloud Viewer, for examples of such usage.

Firstly I can't get Overdrive here easily (so much for Free Trade Agreements), besides I'm not interested it using it, and I don't have a Kindle or any Amazon books apart from paper ones so I'm disinclined to look at their Cloudy stuff

So same model as now - pity.

On Windows - I use chrome (my secondary browser) to access the calibre servers so that ebook related activities (including reference and word/term look ups) don't mess with my primary browser (Firefox). I also drive chrome's access to calibre servers from Evernote.

On Android - I do it the other way round, Chrome is my primary browser, and Firefox is secondary - don't bother asking why

BR

[truth1ness]

One other option I have seen done is iPhone apps that are essentially just a minimal shell that points to a web page/app (file converter apps sometimes do this). This has a few advantages. 1) Offline storage up to phone's capacity instead of up to 10mb in browser offline storage 2) Preconfigured port/ip address, help text, etc 3) Exposure to big audience on iOS/Android app stores 4) Automatic app icon on homescreen. This could perhaps be the second stage after the web portion is done.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Firstly I can't get Overdrive here easily (so much for Free Trade Agreements), besides I'm not interested it using it, and I don't have a Kindle or any Amazon books apart from paper ones so I'm disinclined to look at their Cloudy stuff

So same model as now - pity.

On Windows - I use chrome (my secondary browser) to access the calibre servers so that ebook related activities (including reference and word/term look ups) don't mess with my primary browser (Firefox). I also drive chrome's access to calibre servers from Evernote.

On Android - I do it the other way round, Chrome is my primary browser, and Firefox is secondary - don't bother asking why

BR

Feel free to take a glance anyway, just to see how it might work.

OverDrive offers samples of books, no login required, which use their OverDrive Read scheme. Click and open in a new window, no obligations, you can delete your browsing history and cache afterward.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Feel free to take a glance anyway, just to see how it might work.

OverDrive offers samples of books, no login required, which use their OverDrive Read scheme. Click and open in a new window, no obligations, you can delete your browsing history and cache afterward.

Oh I'll definitely be taking more than a glance at the the new calibre-server, when it hits the streets. Presumably I won't have a choice because the current one will disappear. That's cool. If it's released in beta form I'll probably participate, calibre is the only software that enjoys the benefit of my beta testing skills I no longer feel the need to be bleeding edge.

Not really interested in borrowing texts, I need them for analysis and future reference. When reading for pleasure my preference is ink on paper, to my mind, curling up with an electronic device is somehow kind of creepy

BR

[eschwartz]

I meant glance at the no-commitments-necessary OverDrive Read, just to see how well website-based readers work for you.

Although it isn't going to be the same, OverDrive Read does show some of what is possible with localstorage-backed html5 cloud reader apps.

[truth1ness]

Here is more info on the native/web hybrid app I mentioned. Quite a few iphone apps are hybrids, developing a universal web interface but getting benefits of a native shell app for more storage, app store visibility, etc. With a Hybrid Calibre app you could potentially sync all your books to your device rather than up to 10mb in a browser tab which would be amazing.

Hybrid apps are part native apps, part web apps. (Because of that, many people incorrectly call them “web apps”). Like native apps, they live in an app store and can take advantage of the many device features available. Like web apps, they rely on HTML being rendered in a browser, with the caveat that the browser is embedded within the app.

Often, companies build hybrid apps as wrappers for an existing web page; in that way, they hope to get a presence in the app store, without spending significant effort for developing a different app. Hybrid apps are also popular because they allow cross-platform development and thus significantly reduce development costs: that is, the same HTML code components can be reused on different mobile operating systems. Tools such as PhoneGap and Sencha Touch allow people to design and code across platforms, using the power of HTML.

Walgreens provides two very similar hybrid apps– one for Android and the other for iPhone. Both apps have multiple sections and many native features such as access to notifications and a Refill by scan feature that uses the phone camera to refill prescriptions. http://www.nngroup.com/articles/mobile-native-apps/

Example apps
http://phonegap.com/app/

[eschwartz]

First order of the day is to get the massive upgrades in functionality to calibre-server sorted out.

[truth1ness]

Yes. But also considering the advantages of a hybrid app in advance may save some time/reworking if it's decided to add that on later.

[Pedro Pessoa]

Is there a plugin for estimating book's reading time? I installed Page Count, which give WPS. I was thinking in a custom columm that would display the product of this value by some reading rate value or interval.